Guide

Archers – The archers card has had a power spike that should be noticed by most players. At a level 9 in my deck, they play an important role backing up my Giant or luring Minion Hordes into the middle of both of my crown towers. I obviously prefer the latter, where my archers can be most effective. Sometimes, if I know my enemy has a fireball card then I’ll purposely sacrifice my low cost archer cards to bait the fireball. I will then place either Minion Horde behind my Giant or the Mini P.E.K.K.A. These strategies we will discuss later.

Spear Goblins – The trademark of any quality Clash Royale players. These little guys can be worked into any strategy which makes them perfect for any number of things. I will use them to start the game if they appear in my beginning hand. Doing this only eats up 2 elixir and there is a chance that the enemy doesn’t have any other 2 elixir card in their hand – forcing them to play a 3+ card which puts them at a deficit already. They are also perfect for luring the Minion Horde or any Tank into the center of your arena. However, do not place Spear Goblins down to lure a Baby Dragon or a Bomber. Any card that does AOE damage will only stall your enemy for a split second.

Bomb Tower – Let’s be perfectly honest here, Super Cell got this one right when they created this Tower Card. The Bomb Tower’s hitpoints at Level 6 is 1440. This Tower not only serves to wipe out any spawn decks that you may come across, it can survive several Balloon bombings and vanquish entire Barbarian groups. When I place this card down I am usually comfortable knowing I don’t have to watch one of my lanes as closely. I can focus on driving down one lane while my Bomb Tower clears hordes that come from the other side. Beware the enemy’s Minion Horde when playing this card. Make sure you have a Fireball ready if you plan to save it.

Fireball – Ah, what isn’t glorious about a fiery molten filled-ball hurtling towards an enemy tower at the last second to score a buzzer-beating victory?!? I love the Fireball. I know, many players claim Arrows over this marvelous card, but I am not one of them. For the damage output the Fireball can do it’s more than generous with its elixir cost. While the Arrow card is a highly effective card against Spear Goblins, Skeletons, and Minion Hordes; it cannot destroy higher level cards. A high level Fireball can incinerate Barbarian clusters, Three Musketeers, and Witches. These cards, if left unchecked, can do serious damage to any crown tower. Take the Fireball, you’ll thank me later.

Giant – The bread and butter of this deck. There are so many ways to utilize the Giant card with the other cards in our deck. I will share with you a couple of those strategies. First, when I place my Giant card intially I tend to place it far back by my Castle. This way, it gives me extra time for my elixir to collect and I can back up my giant with Archers or a Mini P.E.K.K.A. For me, who cares if it takes awhile for my Giant to get to the enemy’s side? I am confident in my abilities and cards to counter whatever play they have. Remember what I said above – patience is your key to most Royale victories. If my Giant happens to make it to the enemy’s side, I make sure that he draws all the aggro from enemy towers/cards. Here is where the timing is so important – insert Hog Rider. You can’t wait too late to place the Hog Rider because your Giant will already be dead which renders your Hog Rider useless. You want to place this card when the Giant is about half health. I tend to place the Hog Rider on the outskirts of my lane so that he rushes towards the enemy crown tower. Usually, your Hog Rider will be able to get 2 or 3 hits on the enemy before your Giant is gone, and your Hog Rider begins to draw aggro until he’s destroyed.

Minion Horde – Just like Spear Goblins, this card is used in almost every player’s deck. The reason is because of the shredding potential to tank cards. The Minion Horde is the classic play for wiping out an enemy Tank card. As long as you’ve baited whatever spell card the enemy is using, the Minion Horde will do its work successfully. That is its number 1 usage strategy. However, I have used the Minion Horde as a rush to my enemy’s crown tower. I highly discourage you from trying this unless you are out of other options or you see the perfect opening for this play. I will place two or three cards in one lane to try and bait the enemy to spend more elixir than me. Even if this happens, the stars really must align for this to work because if the enemy was holding onto an Arrow card, your play never had a chance. So, if they’ve spent more elixir AND played their Arrow card, I will drop my Minion Horde on the other side and watch as they devastate the enemy crown tower. When this happens it’s appropriate to begin spamming your Taunts at the enemy. Really, they deserve it.

Mini P.E.K.K.A. – High damage and medium tankability makes this card a favorite of mine. I have used him to take down Golems and Giants. He packs a punch with every swing of his sword, and if supported well by Archers or Minion Horde, can be effectively deadly to any enemy crown tower. At a Level 6 my Mini P.E.K.K.A. can take down a fully charged Prince.

Hog Rider – Our crown tower taking champion. Like I was saying above when speaking about the Giant’s strengths, I always pair my Hog Rider with my Giant when I can. However, the Hog Rider can be effective on his own as well. I talked heavily about baiting and luring, when done correctly the Hog Rider can be free to pummel a crown tower without any resistance from the enemy. This usually occurs during Double Elixir and my enemy tries to rush one lane in a frantic attempt to win. The Hog Rider is a card that should be considered for every deck strategy.

Weakness:

In this guide, I’ll give you a general understanding of the weaknesses of this deck. One of these weakness is the tendency for this deck to Draw matches instead of Win them. I say this ony because this deck is utilized for Controlling the Arena Field. You are not pinning your victory on offensive or defense alone, rather you are waiting for your opponent to make the mistake so you can play that Hog Rider and laugh the whole time. So, if you are a person who craves offense decks – this is not for you. Another weakness does lie in the timing of playing your Fireball card. Sometimes, the enemy will bait your Fireball by throwing a Goblin Barrel down your lane or placing a Skeleton Army down. At these moments, it would be great to have Arrows instead and conserve elixir. Unfortunately, you don’t. That’s why I grit my teeth everytime something like that happens and I feel like I’m wasting my Fireball potential. Playing the Mini P.E.K.K.A. to early after the enemy places a Tank card could result in your little brusier being destroyed by a crowd card like Minion Horde or Witch. The Giant doesn’t have a weakness in my mind because I don’t mind sacrificing a bit of health for a low elixir Tank card. To me, it’s a fair trade. Finally, it takes time to master this deck and become comfortable with countering the opponent and learning how to see the opening when it comes. If you are someone who is searching for “Quick-Fix” deck to your Trophy problems, this is not it.

Alternative Cards:

Archers – Can be replaced with Musketeer or Baby Dragon. However, note that both are higher elixir cost and the damage mitigation difference isn’t large. If you for some reason were lucky enough to receive the Princess card, you can replace Archers with her as well.

Spear Goblins – Could be replaced with Skeletons I suppose, although you are eliminating the range functionality. Minions may be another good choice or Bomber, but our AOE damage is already taken care of with Bomb Tower.

Bomb Tower – Can be replaced with Elixir Collector if you’re looking for a, “damage soaking” structure. I say this because the Elixir Collector has high health as well. Replacing the Bomb Tower with Tesla is also a solid option because it offers the ability to take out small groups up close. The Inferno Tower would be the exact opposite of what we want so that’s not a viable replacement.

Fireball – Can be replaced with any other spell card that you feel the most comfortable using. Or, you can continue to swap the spell card in this deck until you find one that best suits your playing style.

Giant – Could be replaced with Giant Skeleton but don’t forget that the Giant only has one objective – the Crown Tower; whereas the Giant Skeleton is distracted by ground troops. If you wanted to sacrifice our perfect 4.0 elixir cost you could trade the Giant for any number of higher cost cards i.e. P.E.K.K.A., Golem. Do not replace the Giant with the Royale Giant. That card is almost completely useless in the current meta in my opinion. Plus, our objective with the Giant is to use him as a Meat Shield not keep him in the backrow.

Minion Horde – Can be replaced with Minions if you want a lower elixir cost deck. Could be replaced with Baby Dragon, Wizard, Witch, or any other ranged card that could mirror the Minion Horde’s numbers with AOE damage.

Mini P.E.K.K.A. – Can be replaced with Valkyrie if you feel that better protects your Giant. You could also consider Prince or Dark Prince depending on what play style you’re looking for.

Hog Rider – In my opinion, irreplaceable for this deck. He will be the main card to take the coveted crown towers.